The present invention relates to an electronic cash register which processes data pertaining to a merchandise item purchased as part of a checkout operation and more particularly to a system for identifying one of a plurality of different price levels for a purchased merchandise item which is normally sold as part of a multiple-item package.
Merchanidise items such as soda and beer are normally sold in packages of 6, 8 or 12 bottles. As part of a merchandise checkout operation, a UPC label is attached to the package containing data identifying the merchandise item but not the number of units contained in such package. During the checkout operation of the package, the UPC label is read by an optical reader and the data obtained is used to access a price look-up table in a RAM memory or in a remotely located disc file to obtain the price of the merchandise item which is then displayed in the display of the electronic cash register associated with the checkout system. In order to identify the number of bottles in the package sold when the number is less than the original number of bottles in the package, such as a six-pack, a qualifier key on the keyboard is used as part of a keyboard operation to identify the number of bottles in the package sold. The use of this type of key adds an additional binary digit to the UPC item code thus giving the package size a unique number which can be used to abstract the correct price for the number of bottles sold. The problem with this type of arrangement is that the operator must recognize the need to use a qualifier key. The number of qualifier keys provided on the keyboard are limited to the most popular size packages that are sold by the store. It has been found that in convenience stores, which are open twenty-four hours a day, the number of such merchandise items sold is frequently less than six. This has required the clerk to look up the price for a single item and enter manually the price into the cash register when the item purchased is one. When the item purchased is greater than one but less than six, the operator is required to repeat the single item transaction for each item sold. It is therefore a principal object of this invention to provide a system for automatically accessing a memory for the price for a merchandise item which can be sold in varying numbers without requiring the use of a qualifier key on the keyboard. It is another object of this invention to provide a system for storing a large number of price levels for a single merchandise item.